MZIWETHEMBA Gwabeni, who is accused four in the AKA and Tibz murder case, asked the Durban Magistrates Court that if indeed Mfunda Gcaba paid him R803 455,00, then why was he not arrested with him.
Gwabeni (36), who was identified as the organiser of the hit on AKA and allegedly paid R803 455,00 for it, was responding to investigating officer Detective Kumarasan Pillay's affidavit on Monday, 8 April.
Pillay's affidavit was read in court on Wednesday, 27 March, in opposition of the accused's bail application.
Pillay revealed that money trails showed that Gwabeni received a payment of R803 455,00 from one of KZN's well-known taxi bosses, Sydney Mfunda (Mfundo) Gcaba on 11 February 2023, the day after AKA was killed.
The detective also revealed that Gwabeni transferred that money to his co-accused with the reference "dividends", but there are no records that the other suspects have shares in his company.
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Gwabeni said the state's problem in this matter, which can be described as the elephant in the room, is Gcaba's status and the failure of the state to arrest him.
“The state has alleged that I’m the mastermind behind the killing of AKA and Tibz and that an amount of R800 000 was transferred into my account as payment for the so-called hit.
“If the state honestly believes this and if it had any evidence, not conjecture, then I would have expected that Mfunda Gcaba would have been arrested and would have been a co-accused. The fact of the matter is that he is not a co-accused and the state has not taken this court into its confidence and disclosed why they have chosen not to arrest him,” he said.
Gwabeni said he believes the court should be asking why the state has failed to arrest Gcaba.
“Just as the state has been unable to tell this honourable court what possible motive I could have in the killing of Forbes,” he said.
Gcaba, who is a well-known taxi boss, is also former president Jacob Zuma's nephew.
Gwabeni said the state does not have enough evidence that he was at King Shaka Airport on 10 February when AKA landed, and that he used his virtual bank card to pay for parking before he followed the rapper in his BMW car.
“The state has been strangely silent and has chosen not to address the fact that an airport is a national key point with extensive security close circuit cameras.
“I've expected the state to state categorically that they have video evidence of me driving the motor vehicle and following Forbes," he said.
Accused two, Lindani Ndimande, also responded to Pillay's affidavit and denied being involved in the murders.
The court adjourned to 2 May for arguments.
